Month: September 2016

Florence exists in layers. It takes a lifetime to peel them back. Yes, like an onion, she can make you cry. The veneer of the city is best admired by gazing down at the city from San Minato al Monte. The Romanesque gem has stood watch over Florence since the 11th century. The first time …

Italy is essentially a study in duality. A gorgeous veneer blankets a sometimes grisly reality. Allora, if I may throw us right into the depths of a bureaucratic abyss? The American Consulate’s website here in Florence specifically says that Americans can remain in Italy for 90 days as tourists with no need for a permit …

If you don’t mind a mind blowing rhetorical trick. Two words, both the same, one is an adjective and the other a noun. It is a polyptoton. Fitting for my fixation on farewell. Curtain calls are not the time for subtle alliteration. There quite simply is no time. I have been a Virginia for …

It doesn’t matter if you are an adult. When you set out on an adventure the age old adage, trumpeted by the well-meaning choir, is “have fun but, for Christ sake, please be careful”. You just never know what might happen if you behave badly. Actually, I do know. In 1845, Heinrich Hoffmann published “Der …